Small waves for Round 2 of Billabong Pro

The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay recommenced yesterday with the first six heats of Round 2 taking advantage of an unexpected clean pulse through the iconic pointbreak.

Xcel team rider Bede Durbidge carving at Supertubes. Photo: ASP

Adrian Buchan (AUS), 28, punctuated the day’s affairs with the highest heat total of the Round (a 15.80 out of a possible 20), lighting up the offshore-kissed righthanders with aggressive backhand surfing.

Adriano de Souza (BRA), 24, current leader in the hunt for the 2011 ASP World Title, scored his first heat win since an emotional hometown victory in Brazil in May and looks to be recovering well from knee injury sustained during a training trip to the Maldives.

“I think with every surf I’m building momentum,” De Souza said. “I’m really happy to make this heat. I’ve been a little low during my last few surfs, but this win really builds my confidence. I’m just focusing on each heat and each event and not thinking about the title right now.”

Adriano de Souza is leading the world rankings. Photo: ASP

Bede Durbidge (AUS) equal 3rd finisher at Jeffreys Bay in 2010, racked up a 15.10 out of a possible 20 in a convincing win over Shaun Joubert (ZAF). Joubert, who was in as a replacement for Bobby Martinez exhibited some electric surfing, even putting Durbidge on the back foot at one point, but it was the powerful Australian who would eventually grab the win.

“I changed my strategy a little bit actually,” Durbidge said. “Shaun is a really good air surfer, but he hasn’t surfed at this level a whole lot so I tried to put some scores up early and put the pressure on him.”

Taj Burrow (AUS), 33, current No. 4 on the ASP World Title rankings, was in blistering form this morning, taking down lethal wildcard Sean Holmes is a closely fought Round 2 battle.

“It’s tricky out there today,” Burrow said. “It’s really clean, but a bit inconsistent. Sean is so dangerous out there. He knows the wave better than anyone and I wasn’t taking him lightly. Stoked to get through and hopefully we are able to take advantage of some swell later in the week.”

“It’s been the weirdest week of my life,” Logie said. “I’ve been hanging around and wondering if I’m getting into the event and dealing with the rumor mill. I guess it was all worth it though. That was a huge heat for me and my campaign to get back on tour full time.”